Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Fight off aliens with the power of indie music in April

'Loud on Planet X' lands on April 19th for PS4 and Steam, and April 21st for iOS and Android.

Loud on Planet Xuses songs from Tegan and Sara, Lights, Metric, Purity Ring, METZ, Fucked Up, July Talk, Austra, Cadence Weapon and other high-profile independent bands to defeat hordes of invading (yet adorable) aliens. It debuts on the digital stage on April 19th for PlayStation 4 and Steam, and gets an encore launch on iOS and Android on April 21st.

Players embody the bands themselves and play music to keep aliens from overtaking their stage. Loud on Planet X is a mash-up of Plants vs. Zombiestower-defense mechanics and Patapon-style rhythm gameplay. The game will be $7 ($9 CAD) on PlayStation 4 and Steam for PC and Mac, and $4 ($5.50 CAD) on mobile devices.

Making the game involved cutting through a bit of red tape, developer Pop Sandbox told Engadget in 2015. The team needed to license master and publishing rights for each song, plus secure likeness agreements with each band, all of which usually involved coordinating with multiple parties. But the artists themselves were all-in on the idea.

"The musicians we're working with have been really incredible and genuinely excited to be involved," studio head Alex Jansen said. "A lot of them are big gamers too, especially someone like Lights."